The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to an apparatus and method for endodontic treatment and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to an apparatus and method for treating a root canal using one or more angled fluid jets.
In cases where a tooth is decayed, infected, or abscessed, a root canal procedure may be performed to eliminate infection and decontaminate the tooth. During the root canal procedure, substances such as nerve and pulp tissue are removed in order to prevent future infection.
Current methods for treating a root canal may involve the use of files, such as metal files, for removing tissue such as nerve tissue, magma, pulp tissue or blood vessels from the root canal. In some cases, a rotary file drill is used for shaping a root canal and optionally widening a portion of it to enable access. One of the risks of the use of files for endodontic treatment is the spreading of a smear layer, which may include organic and/or inorganic debris, on the root canal wall after instrumentation. Another potential risk of the use of files may include wounding of the root canal wall or apex.
Endodontic treatment devices have been disclosed by several publications.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,378 to Valdes et al. discloses “A method and apparatus for dental procedures using a dental hydrojet tool having a cannula extending therefrom. The cannula is connected to a source of high pressure liquid, and delivers a high velocity, high pressure jet. For root canal procedures, the cannula is directed through an opening formed in the crown of the tooth, and the hydrojet is directed at the pulp, nerve and vascular tissue within the interior chamber.”
U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,921 to Detaille discloses “a device for treating the pulp canals and -chamber of a tooth, the crown of which presents a previously opened pulp-chamber in which said canals open, comprising an apparatus tightly adaptable to the crown of the tooth and providing in the pulp-chamber and the pulp-canals of said tooth for the circulation of a treating solution acting substantially upon the vasculo-nervous bundle or the necroticmagma of the tooth; the pressure of the treating solution being subjected within the pulp-chamber and the pulp-canals to periodical impulses combined to oscillations of substantially higher frequency.”